Bio
Barak Sella is an educator, community organizer, writer, researcher, and one of the leading Israeli experts on US-Israel relations and World Jewry.
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Born in Texas, Barak moved to Israel in 1994, exactly one year before the Rabin assassination. This event deeply affected him and became an inseparable part of his socialization in Israeli society.
As a leader in Israel's National Labor Youth Union and largest Youth Organization, Barak spent his adult years educating youth all over Israel about the importance of peace and democracy. After years as a youth leader and regional Director, Barak was appointed national spokesperson for the youth labor union, where he led many successful campaigns on youth poverty, worker rights, and education funds from the government as part of his commitment to peace and democracy.
Barak educated thousands of teens about the legacy of the late Yitzhak Rabin and edited the first-ever literary anthology about the assassination titled Class of 95. Barak also served as a spokesperson for the National Memorial rally for several years and founded the Stand for Democracy coalition to promote the memorial of Rabin in the USA.
As an activist and community organizer, Barak's activities focused on building bridges within communities in Israel and worldwide, most notably leading one of Israel's first COVID-19 volunteer response networks and the first Israeli civil humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees.
His last role was as the Executive Director of the Reut Institute, one of Israel's foremost think tanks on strategy and leadership. During his years at the institute, Barak worked with leading actors in the Israeli government and with NGOs from Israel and the US on various issues: Israel delegitimization, The Ukraine War, radical movements, antisemitism, Jewish Peoplehood, and Israel-US relations.
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Since October 7th, Barak has emerged as a leading Israeli-American voice against antisemitism and extremism on American college campuses, particularly during his time at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has organized numerous student events and rallies while conducting dozens of interviews with Israeli and international media, consistently advocating for the inclusion of diverse Jewish and Israeli perspectives and emphasizing antisemitism as a broader American concern. As a central activist in Harvard Jews for Israel groups and a coordinator within the national network of Israeli activist academics in the US, Barak has addressed numerous Jewish conferences and organizations about campus Jewish life. His perspective and leadership have been instrumental in shaping the global conversation on antisemitism, particularly within academic institutions.
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A published author and op-ed contributor, Barak's insights into Jewish identity, diaspora relations, and contemporary socio-political dynamics are well-regarded. He has appeared in various media outlets, spoken at numerous conferences in the Jewish community, and consulted for government and leading NGOs, contributing substantially to the global dialogue on Jewish affairs.
Barak holds a B.Ed. and a teaching diploma in history from Beit-Berl Academic College and an M.A in American Jewish Studies from the Haifa University. Barak recently graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School for Government with a Master's in Public Administration and is currently a Middle East Initiative fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Fellow at the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education.
